Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times / by John Stewart Milne.

  • Milne, John Stewart, 1871-
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times / by John Stewart Milne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    it and cut down upon it. Divide the whole fistula with a hemispathion or a fistula-knife (ripnanadi^ 77 (maOiu vvpiyyo- What the nature of the cnraOCov was, if indeed it was a dis- tinct instrument and not a term for scalpels in general, we cannot definitely say. The etymology of the word would indicate a blade of the shape of a weaver's spattle, the two edges running into one at the point. Heister (i. 651) and Ehodius (Commentar. in Scrib. Larg. p. 46) agree in making the spathion a large two-edged scalpel, as also does Scultetus, who says of it : Scalpellum ancipitem esse utrimque acutum et in superiore parte paulo latum, qui in extremitate sua in unam cuspidem coiret (Arm. Chir. Tab. II, fig. 1). We shall see that one variety of spathion—that for detaching nasal polypus—was certainly of this shape. B,hodius (loc. cit.) says the hemispathion is a small variety of the spathion. An instrument in the Louvre has two blades of this shape at either end of a round handle ornamented with rolling grooves (PL VIII, fig. 8). Polypus Knife. Greek, itoXvitlkov a-Ttadiov, Trokvirobiicbv <nra0Cov ; Latin, ferra- mentum acutum modo spathae factum. Paulus Aegineta (VI. xxv) thus describes the excision of nasal polypus: ' Holding in his right hand the polypus scalpel, which is shaped like a myrtle leaf and sharp pointed {-noAvniK^ airadLu t<j) nvpo-ivoeihei aK/matw), we cut round the polypus or fleshy tumour, applying the point of the steel blade (tt]v o.Kp.r\v tov cnSrjpov) to the part where it adheres to the nose. Afterwards turning the instrument end for end (avTio-Tptyavres) we bring out the separated fleshy body with the scoop' (t5 KvaOCo-Kio). This description reminds us very forcibly of Celsus's account of the operation : Ferramento acuto modo spathae facto, resolvere ab osse